Interview: Tia Tanaka

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Roger T. Pipe

It started as a cure for writers block. I was working on some other projects and would come home every night and write in a journal as a warm up. One day, I was reading alt.sex.movies and found some reviews of porn flicks. I've always loved movies and porn, so I decided to review some tapes form my personal porn collection. I wrote a review, found that I liked it and posted it to asm. The feedback was positive and I just kept writing. I found it a great way to get me started each day, writing about something I enjoyed and pretty soon, people were asking me to review their films and work on a web site. The rest, as they say, is history.

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It is the last day of the Adult Expo for 2006 and I am sitting next to

Tia Tanaka

You are in this lovely Diabolic calendar I believe.

Yes, they misspelled my name though. They spelled it Tia Takana when it is really Tia Tanaka.

What does Tanaka mean?

It was given to me by Ed Powers. It’s the name of a famous Sumo wrestler.

You’re named after a sumo wrestler and you weigh about as much as my arm.

Yeah. Maybe Ed thinks I will grow up to be fat.

What is your ethnic background?

I am Vietnamese and French.

How old are you?

I’m eighteen. I will be nineteen in a couple of months.

When did you get into the business?

A few months ago.

How did you get in?

My friend is in the business, Kitty. We went to high school together and she was the business. She would always tell me that I should do it. She made it sound exciting, but I was hesitant. I just decided to do it and now I love it.

What was your first scene like?

It was a boy, boy, boy, girl scene. I don’t remember the name of the movie, but it was for Chico and Diabolic.

Is that the most guys you have been with at once?

Yes.

Were you a little bit intimidated?

I was very scared at first. They made it fun.

How long did it take for you to relax and enjoy yourself?

I was scared the whole time, but everyone said that I looked like a natural.

Are you still nervous?

Sometimes I am, but I get into and enjoy myself.

What makes you nervous about a scene now?

It could be working with a particular guy. If there are a lot of people in the room, something like that.

Where were you born?

I was born in the Philippines.

When did you move to the States?

When I was one.

What were you like growing up?

I was an overachiever. I had to be the best in school. My mom raised me to be the best at everything. As a kid I hated, that, but now I appreciate it.

Do you carry that into your performances?

Yes.

You went to school with Kitty who is pretty wild. Were you that was as well?

No. I wasn’t a wild girl, but I have a bit of freak in me.

Usually you don’t end up here without being a bit of a freak. When did you become sexually active?

When I was fourteen.

Was the first experience with a guy?

Yes it was.

How much older was he?

Just a couple of years. Actually he took my virginity, but the first person I messed around with was a girl when I was twelve or thirteen. Do you want to hear about that?

I suppose we should cover it just to be thorough.

I didn’t have a lot of freedom and couldn’t do much. I was only allowed to have one friend over at a time. I became really good friends with this girl and we shared that experience. It was all we could do.

Was it weird?

No. She was like my sister.

That would be weird.

I just mean we were close so it wasn’t weird.

How long was it before you tried girls again?

I haven’t. I’ve kissed girls, but nothing more.

Are you attracted to girls?

I love them.

You lost your virginity at fourteen. How was that?

It was painful. We didn’t go all the way through with it, but we did it. I am the one who forced it.

So it has gotten better over the years.

Yeah.

How many movies have you done so far?

Only about fifteen.

Do you know any titles we can look out for?

I am in No Swallowing Allowed, Teacher’s Pet, something for Hustler and Red Light. I’ve worked for a few companies.

Do you have any favorite guys to work with yet?

Steve Holmes.

How tall are you?

I’m only five two.

So his dick is half your height.

People were laughing when we worked together because his dick is bigger than my waist.

How is that possible?

It is longer than my hips across.

OK. Did that intimidate you?

It did at first, but it felt really good and I liked it.

Are you hooked on big guys now?

I’m one of those people who believes that size doesn’t matter.

Could one be too small?

I’ve worked with some really small guys and yeah I guess it can be.

You worked with Ed. Is he really small?

Yes, he is probably one of the smallest guys I’ve been with.

Is he the kind of guy you’re normally attracted to?

No. I like older guys, but not that old. More like thirtyish.

Does race matter?

Not really. I don’t usually date Asian guys.

Why do Asian girls not date Asian guys?

I don’t know. They are just gross. Ask Kitty, she will never be with an Asian guy. She has been that way since high school. If an Asian guy hit on her she was grossed out. I think that Asian men are meant for white women. They treat them better than they do Asian women.

So Chico doesn’t turn you on?

No.

Have you done girls on film?

I worked with Nollie and Steve Holmes.

Other than Kitty, do the other people you went to school with know what you’re doing?

Yes. There is a girl Jasmine Mye who is a spokes model for pornstar.com and she went to high school with us. She was here earlier and we all took pictures together.

A high school reunion at a porn convention. What did they teach you girls at that school? Did you all have the same teacher who turned you this way?

No. We are all different ages. Jasmine is a little older and I just graduated last year.

When I talked to Kitty she said that people were not very surprised when they found she was in porn.

I disagree. I know that I was very surprised when I heard. I knew she was a freak, but I didn’t know it would go that far.

Is Steve still the biggest guy you’ve worked with?

Yes.

Do you want to work with someone bigger?

I would try if they put me with someone.

Do you do anal?

Not yet.

Do you do that in your private life?

I tired it and had a bad experience.

Wait until you like it before you do it on camera because you want to be the best.

That’s right.

So you need lots of practice.

Oh yeah?

Yeah and I can help with that.

I see. OK.

You do facials I see, is that something you had done before porn?

Yeah I had done that. I had only done it with one guy though. No Swallowing Allowed was five guys. My face was drenched.

How was that?

It smelled like bleach. It was horrible. I wouldn’t do it in my private life.

So you won’t be begging guys to cum on your face?

Maybe the right guy.

What about swallowing?

I have no problem swallowing.

Would you rather swallow or have it on your face?

I would rather have it on my face, but I will swallow.

Do your parents know what you’re doing?

My mom has an idea, but she doesn’t know for sure. I’m pretty sure she is going to find out.

How do you think that will go over?

I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see.

There are worse things you could be doing.

Yeah. I’m hoping she will be kind of proud. I’m not in the streets. I’m taking care of myself. I’m in college and I got into porn to help pay for school.

You said you were five two.

Yes, ninety eight pounds.

Natural breasts.

Yes. I’m a natural B.

Are you going to stay that way?

Yes.

I don’t see a lot of tattoos.

I have one on my back.

Any plans for more?

If I think of something I really want. I regret the tattoo I have. I got it when I was younger. The reason I got it was to be the best. All of my friends were getting little flowers and stars and I decided, screw that. I’m getting a big dragon so I can look cool.

That’s not your whole back though.

It takes up three fourths of my back. I wish I had gotten something smaller.

See, sometimes bigger isn’t better. Do you have a website?

Not yet, but my agent says he bought the domain name so it will be coming soon.

If Ed gave you your name, but didn’t shoot your first scene, what other name did you use>

I went by Sasha Lei, but no one liked Sasha. For Chico’s movie I went by Mulan Wang. I was supposed to be his daughter. I needed a real name so I decided that I liked Tia. Ed told me a needed a last name. We tried Tia Darling, but that sounded a little too western. He came up with Tia Tanaka. Ed was a great guy.

Did you like working with him?

Yes.

Have you had any bad experiences?

Not yet.

Have you ever left a set feeling that you had really great sex?

Yeah, with Steve. I left the set smiling and I was nice to everyone.

Have you ever taken male talent home for fun after hours?

No, not yet.

Not yet? So you’re open to that?

I don’t know. I’ve had offers and numbers left in my purse.

Is this your first interview?

It’s my first long interview. I’ve done short ones before.

What is the dumbest question anyone has ever asked?

I haven’t really had any dumb questions, but I had someone ask me something really offensive.

More offensive than me offering you anal sex lessons?

That didn’t offend me silly. Yeah, this guy asked me how it feels being a whore or something stupid like that. I didn’t like that.

How does it feel to be a really hot girl that guys masturbate to?

(She laughs) It’s flattering.

I think that’s a better question than the one the other guy asked.

Yeah, he didn’t have to say it the way he did.

None of your movies are out yet so none of these people in line for your autograph have seen you in action.

Not yet. They just see the calendar and see me sitting here.

Do you think it will be different next year?

Yeah. I think it will feel different.

You realize that guys have been masturbating to you for years.

I guess.

What is something you want your fans to know about you?

That I have been having fun and I hope that you like what I do.

Is there anyone you really want to work with?

Katsumi. I think she’s gorgeous.

That would be a hot scene. What about Kitty?

I am working with her next week. And then with our other friend from high school